Brick

Brick -Table of Contents................ Illustrated Architecture Dictionary ...............

Brick

Bond: arrangement of masonry

Brick: molded rectangular block of clay baked by the sun or in a kiln until hard and used a building and paving material

Bullnose brick: rounded brick

Common brick: brick made for general building purposes and not specially treated for color and texture. Also called "building brick."

Course: a continuous row of bricks

Efflorescence: a white, powdery deposit that forms on an exposed masonry or concrete surface, caused by the leaching and crystallization of soluble salts from within the material

Facing brick: brick made of special clays for facing a wall, often treated to produce the desired color and surface tension. Also called "face brick."

Glazed brick: brick that has a coating of colored, opaque, or transparent material applied before firing

Governor's Palace, Williamsburg, VA

Harvard brick: Unmolded

Header: short side of the brick faces out

Roman brick: brick having nominal dimensions of 4x2x12 in. (economy brick: 4x4x8 in.) Favored by Frank Lloyd Wright in his prairie homes. Rarely manufactured today.

Williams-Butler House
Horace Reed House
Minot Tanner House

Rubbed (finish) brick: A finish obtained by using an abrasive to remove surface irregularities. Term also applies to stone.

Webb Building

Stretcher: long side of the brick faces out

Former quarries near Buffalo:

Penn Dixie, Hamburg, NY. Had windom shale. Now a nature preserve operated by the Hamburg Natural history Society (716-627-4560)
Pleasant Avenue, Hamburg, NY. Had black shale used for bricks
West Falls, NY
In Niagara County on Townline and Beach Ridge Rds. Now a land fill. Large clay deposit.

Vitruvius Pollio, "The Ten Books on Architecture" Chapter III - Brick

Click on photos for larger size

Glazed brick. Note where the glazed has eroded

This cream-colored brick is unusual for two reasons: it is Roman brick, and it is curved (Forman-Cabana House)

A wall of the Amherst Street Transit Station which was intended to be a work of art in its own right.

Detail of previous photo

Many Italianate style house in Buffalo are constructed of brick with wood ornamentation, Over the years, many have been painted as in 266 Carolina

Another Italianate house (3 Cottage)

The darker brown brick is used to represent the tree of life in the Bennett Apartments, an Art Deco design.

Terra cotta is is used for ornamentation in the light-colored brick in downtown Buffalo's Brisbane Building next to Lafayette Square

In H.H. Richardson's Dorsheimer House, brick is ornamented with gray sandstone and wood

A rich maroon brick is beautifully contrasted to white glazed terra cotta at Grover Cleveland H.S.

A more common orange brick is ornamented with white glazed terra cotta in the Hotel Lafayett e by a woman architect, Louise Blanchard Bethune

White glazed terra cotta also adds interesting detail in the Lenox Hotel

Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Martin House, like most of his Prairie style buildings, uses Roman brick.

Red brick provides warm contrast to the wrought iron lamp at the Williams-Pratt House, one of two remaining mansions in Buffalo by McKim, Mead, and White

Common brick compared ro Roman brick

Other examples:

Roman brick: Stella Lowry House
Eastlake commercial brick: The Granite Works, 844 Main Street

Special thanks to Jerry Bastedo and John Opera supplying much of the information of this page.

web site consulting by ingenious, inc.


Glazed brick. Note where the glazed has eroded	This cream-colored brick is unusual for two reasons: it is Roman brick, and it is curved (Forman-Cabana House)	A wall of the Amherst Street Transit Station which was intended to be a work of art in its own right.	Detail of previous photo

Many Italianate style house in Buffalo are constructed of brick with wood ornamentation, Over the years, many have been painted as in 266 Carolina	Another Italianate house (3 Cottage)	The darker brown brick is used to represent the tree of life in the Bennett Apartments, an Art Deco design.	Terra cotta is is used for ornamentation in the light-colored brick in downtown Buffalo's Brisbane Building next to Lafayette Square

In H.H. Richardson's Dorsheimer House, brick is ornamented with gray sandstone and wood	A rich maroon brick is beautifully contrasted to white glazed terra cotta at Grover Cleveland H.S.	A more common orange brick is ornamented with white glazed terra cotta in the Hotel Lafayett e by a woman architect, Louise Blanchard Bethune	White glazed terra cotta also adds interesting detail in the Lenox Hotel

Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Martin House, like most of his Prairie style buildings, uses Roman brick.	Red brick provides warm contrast to the wrought iron lamp at the Williams-Pratt House, one of two remaining mansions in Buffalo by McKim, Mead, and White	Common brick compared ro Roman brick